The Irish standard., 1887-08-06

made. He will hear on every side the
great truths Of Christianity publicly as
sailed and travestied in the vilest way.
All this makes it the more imperative
that the rising generation should be
we'll instructed in their religion, and
inbued with an extensive and practical
knowledge Of the teachings Of Divine
Faith. Such shall be the knowledge
impaired in these Christian schools.
The child shall learn every branch Of
science suitable for his position in life,
but religion SHALL be the basis Of educa-
! ton, and mis- religious instruction will
! embrace whatever can contribute to
| mould the heart to virtue, to subdue the
passions, TO regulate the affections, and
to prepare his mind for that world, full
Of danger, into which he shall so soon
(? be obliged to enter. We welcome, you,
brothers, coming as you do to strengthen
| our ranks in this great work Of Chris
tian education. But we welcome you
also as coming from brave and faithful
Ireland, the motherland OF sages and OF
saints. Al the present hour the eyes ot
The civilized world are fixed upon Ires
land, her struggles, her aspirations, her
chiyalry, her t2ilmphs. Heg sons at
home, with unquenchable ardor and
unfinching firmness, but, witha]. with
genuine moderation and untainted
LOYALTY, assert their iuaiienable rights,
resolved never to relax their efforts un-
til they shalt have secured full mea-
sure OF self-government, with all it's
franchises and all it's privileges. But it
is not to the political struggles Of Ire
lard that | would now desire to call
your attention. | would wish rather to
coname n orate her de7otedness to re~
ligion, which can nowhere be surpassed;
her faith, pure as the purest gold that
comes from the crucib}e; her piety III
yal}ing the brightest ages of the lrlsE
Church: her charity, ever superbound~
ing in good works; her missionary zeal,
winning souls to Christ in every quar-
ter Of the globe. Bright and peerless
indeed was the aureola Of Erin's
sanctitY in the first ages OF her Chris
tian history. 1t is TO less bright, no
less illustrious at the present hour. In
the seventh century the Saxon ST. Aid
helm described the Irish Church as
rich in the wealth of science, and as
thicl1ly SET with learned men as the
armament is with stars A Thousand
years later ,another Saxon writer, Cam
den, would attest that no man came up
to the Irish monks in Ireland and Brit
ain for sanctity and learning; and they
sent forth swarms of holy men all over
Europe to whom the greatest monas
teries of France. italy, Germany and
Switzerland owe their origin In our
OWN day The learned German historian,
Gore, has attested with. no less elo-
quence that when we look into the &C.
clesiastical life Of the Irish people, We
are almost tempted to believe that some
potent spirit had transported over the
sea the cells Of the valley of the Mile,
with all their PERMITS, iss sSmonasteries,
witt, all their inmates; three centuries
gave $50 saints to the Church, and.
while il devoted the utmost attention
to the sciences, cultivated with especial
care the religious contemplation in her
communities as we'll as in the saints !
whom they produced But we need !
not the testimonies of those writer's. /
The religious monuments which still
rem ain. the ivy clad ruins cf churches
and cells and monasteries that mark
each fanest spo5. 5he silent glen, the
green hill, the smiling valley, sufficiently
attest how widespread through the
length and breadth Of the land were
the blessings of the faith in those days
Of old''
Christian Influence.
The influences which religion throws
around society are the only levers that
preserve it from decay. Prominent
members of society may discard reli- /;